WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Lynne Featherstone: As of 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office has been part of the Home Office and is no longer a separate Government Department. The information requested will be provided by the Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green), in response to your question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance: Appeals

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 285W, on disability living allowance: appeals, what the (a) maximum and (b) average length of time waited was where the appellant had elected to have an oral hearing.

Maria Miller: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not hold information on the longest waiting times for an appeal hearing before the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal (SSCS). The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost by manually checking each individual case file.
	It is possible to provide, from management information, the percentages of oral appeals disposed of by the Tribunal within four weeks and longer than 52 weeks. During the period 1 April to 31 December 2011 (the most recent period for which statistics have been published), 41,700 DLA oral appeals were disposed of nationally. Of these, 0.3% were disposed of within four weeks and 10.6% were aged 52 weeks or more when disposed of. Appeals taking longer than 52 weeks to be disposed of are likely to be the most complex cases, which may have more than one hearing, for example a first hearing may have been adjourned for further evidence to be gathered.
	The average time from receipt at HMCTS to disposal for DLA oral appeals in the period 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011 was 33.9 weeks.

Employment and Support Allowance

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2012, Official Report, column 729W, on incapacity benefit, whether a risk register was compiled in advance of the migration from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance.

Chris Grayling: For each of our significant reform or change programmes and projects their senior responsible owners are required to maintain risk registers for the risks inherent within their area. The programme lead for the migration of claimants of incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance did hold a risk register.

Employment and Support Allowance

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his letter of 28 February 2012 to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, what changes to procedures have been implemented; what the recommendations of his officials on procedures for DS1500 ESA claimants were; and whether DS1500 ESA claimants now have an individual officer assigned to take personal control of their case.

Chris Grayling: Following the concerns raised DWP guidance has been amended to reflect additional considerations to be taken into account when a claimant notifies the Department of a potential terminal illness at the commencement of, or during, the IB (IS) reassessment process.
	DWP staff have been instructed to confirm whether a form DS1500 has been issued to the claimant and, if so, to request sight of the form. If a DS1500 has been previously provided in support of another claim for benefit such as DLA, the claimant is informed that a duplicate is not required. Staff are further instructed to refer the case immediately to Atos Healthcare who will scrutinise the available medical evidence, consider requesting further evidence if necessary and provide advice to the DWP decision maker within two working days.
	DWP are considering proposals for providing a single point of contact for claimants and customers with particular needs.

Health and Safety Executive

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of funding reductions to the Health and Safety Executive on its ability to make workplace inspections related to (a) occupational asthma and (b) high temperatures in bakeries.

Chris Grayling: HSE will achieve the necessary budget reductions in ways that allows it to maintain its frontline activities of inspection and incident investigation at those businesses and in those sectors which represent the highest risk to the safety and health of workers and the public. Employers who do not take seriously the protection of their employees, or those affected by work activities, seriously will still face intervention by HSE.

Housing Benefit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether, when housing benefit is replaced by universal credit, local authorities will be compensated, under the new burdens doctrine, for breaking housing benefit delivery contracts.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions and local authorities are currently studying this issue closely.

Hunterston B Power Station

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 24 May 2012, Official Report, column 816W, on Hunterston B Power Station, if he will place in the Library the correspondence between the Minister of State for Employment and Michael Russell MSP in relation to Hunterston B Power Station.

Chris Grayling: A copy of the correspondence between the Minister of State for Employment and Michael Russell MSP, in relation to Hunterston B Power Station, is being placed in the Library of the House.

Minimum Wage

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland include a couple working (i) 16, (ii) 17, (iii) 18 and (iv) 19 hours a week on the minimum wage, living in their own home and paying more than £1,000 in council tax.

Chris Grayling: We use Family Resources Survey data to provide estimates of household economic status and housing costs. However, the sample size is not sufficient to provide estimates for small groups such as those requested.

National Insurance

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to align the number of national insurance numbers with the number of working people.

Chris Grayling: National insurance numbers (NINos) are required for both working and non-working people. This is because NINos are also required for the administration and payment of benefits for people who are not in work and for those who have worked previously and have a call upon the national insurance contributions they have made such as State Pensioners.
	Once allocated, a NINo remains on the Department's computer system. This is because the NINo provides a permanent numerical link between the individual and their national insurance contribution record which determines entitlement to contributory benefits and state pension. The NINos of deceased individuals are retained on the system as a partner may make a claim for a contributory benefit, which is dependent on the contribution record of the deceased.
	The retention of the NINo for deceased persons on our systems—clearly marked as such to DWP staff—also provides an important counter-fraud measure in that it prevents fraudsters from hi-jacking these numbers.

Departmental Administration Costs

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the administration of his Department in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

Chris Grayling: The expenditure of the department for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 is contained in the published Annual report and accounts:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2010-2011.pdf
	HM Treasury published the February 2012 forecast outturn for all Government Departments in its 2012 Budget publication. For the Department for Work and Pensions this was a forecast underspend of £177 million, of which £78 million was transferred to 2012-13 as part of the Budget Exchange scheme.
	The Department's 2011-12 year-end position is not yet finalised. HM Treasury will provide an update on the expenditure forecasts of all Government Departments in July in the public expenditure statistical analysis.

Pension Credit

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department of downrating pension savings credit in 2012-13;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the savings to the public purse of changes to the pension savings credit threshold in 2012-13;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners who will no longer be entitled to savings credit as a result of changes to the savings credit threshold in 2012-13;
	(4)  what the average cash loss will be (a) for individuals, (b) for couples and (c) in total for people who will no longer be entitled to pension savings credit as a result of the decision to uprate the savings credit threshold by 8.4 per cent in 2012-13;
	(5)  what the average cash loss will be (a) for individuals, (b) for couples and (c) in total for people receiving pension savings credit as a result of its downrating by 9.6 per cent and 12.4 per cent for individuals and couples respectively in 2012-13.

Steve Webb: From April 2012 the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit was increased by £5.35 to £142.70 a week for single pensioners and by £8.20 to £217.90 a week for couples. This was greater than the increase required by statute, in order to ensure that the poorest pensioners received the full effect of the increase in the basic state pension with September CPI. The cost of this exceptional increase in the standard minimum guarantee was offset by increasing the savings credit threshold. The net effect of these two measures is cost-neutral, and no household should be worse off in cash terms as a result of this change when all sources of income are taken into account. Guarantee credit-only cases all gain from this change. For those with continuing savings credit entitlement, on average the pension credit component of their income would have been £1.15 a week higher without this policy change. For couples, it would have been £2.10 a week higher.
	We estimate that there could be around 30,000 fewer pension credit recipients in 2012-13 than there would otherwise have been. However, the 30,000 includes those who may otherwise have gained or lost entitlement to pension credit as a result of the up-rating changes as well as those who would naturally have floated off pension credit due to changes in circumstances, such as an increase in other sources of income. pension credit in these cases would have been an average of £0.65 a week higher for singles or £1.15 a week higher for couples, although no-one should see cash losses overall.
	It is not possible to quantify the broader impact to the public purse of the change arising from entitlement to passported benefits, since some of these are also available on low income grounds. There will be additional expenditure on housing benefit and council tax benefit as a result of the up-rating changes to pension credit, which are included in the cost-neutral assessment.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent his Department and its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Chris Grayling: The DWP has not yet used name-blank CVs or the “blind” sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system, however the Department may consider using this functionality in the future.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women received (a) a full and (b) a partial retirement pension on the contribution record of their husbands in each of the last 30 years.

Steve Webb: Information on the number of women receiving a retirement pension is not held electronically prior to 1995 and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of females receiving a state pension by category of pension in Great Britain from 1995 to 2011 is given in the following tables:
	
		
			 State pension: Females: by category of pension in Great Britain: 1995 to 2002 
			 Date Category B Category ABL Category BL Category AB 
			 September 1995 1,737,000 746,000 1,226,100 n/a 
			 September 1996 1,683,600 800,500 1,203,500 n/a 
			 September 1997 1,623,300 852,000 1,180,400 n/a 
			 September 1998 (1)— (1)— (1)— n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 September 1999 1,496,000 942,500 1,135,500 n/a 
			 September 2000 1,433,600 979,700 1,095,300 n/a 
			 September 2001 1,375,500 1,011,900 1,068,600 n/a 
			 September 2002 1,309,700 1,032,800 1,031,500 n/a 
			 n/a = not available (1) Information for September 1998 is not available. Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Numbers are based on a 5% sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100% data are the preferred source when producing analysis. When WPLS 100% data are not available then sample data are used instead. WPLS state pension data are available from May 2002—prior to that sample data are used. 4. Statistically robust Category AB pension figures can only be sourced from 100% data and so are unavailable before 2002. 5. Category A pension: This is based on a person's own national insurance contributions. A composite pension (Category ABL) based on both the personal and spouse's contributions can also be paid up to a maximum amount of 60% of the standard Category A rate. 6. Category B pension: This is based on the spouse's national insurance record. It is paid when a widow or widower is not entitled to a Category A pension in their own right. Any Category A entitlement would be topped up by the spouse's contributions before a Category B pension would be considered. The maximum is the same as the standard Category A rate. A Category BL pension is payable when a married person is not entitled to a Category A pension but their spouse is. It is currently paid at approximately 60% of the standard Category A rate. 7. The age at which women reach state pension age is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and November 2018. This will introduce a small increase to the number of working age benefit recipients and a small reduction to the number of pension age recipients. Figures from May 2010 onwards reflect this change. For more information see: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/espa.pdf 8. Figures are published at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: 5% sample data 
		
	
	
		
			 State pension: Females: by category of pension in Great Britain: 2002-11 
			 Date Category B Category ABL Category BL Category AB 
			 November 2002 1,248,290 1,049,070 1,042,080 866,520 
			 November 2003 1,188,550 1,074,600 1,009,230 924,980 
			 November 2004 1,136,140 1,086,080 972,940 986,140 
			 November 2005 1,080,520 1,092,410 935,630 1,040,540 
			 November 2006 1,028,970 1,089,060 895,770 1,096,210 
			 November 2007 976,700 1,082,130 858,720 1,150,250 
			 November 2008 924,800 1,077,300 823,530 1,196,070 
			 November 2009 883,200 1,071,330 782,800 1,248,200 
			 November 2010 .841,620 1,059,980 740,640 1,282,320 
		
	
	
		
			 November 2011 797,830 1,042,540 699,840 1,301,030 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Category A pension: This is based on a person's own national insurance contributions. A composite pension (Category ABL) based on both the personal and spouse's contributions can also be paid up to a maximum amount of 60% of the standard Category A rate. 3. Category B pension: This is based on the spouse's national insurance record. It is paid when a widow or widower is not entitled to a Category A pension in their own right. Any Category A entitlement would be topped up by the spouse's contributions before a Category B pension would be considered. The maximum is the same as the standard Category A rate. A Category BL pension is payable when a married person is not entitled to a Category A pension but their spouse is. It is currently paid at approximately 60% of the standard Category A rate. 4. The age at which women reach state pension age is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and November 2018. This will introduce a small increase to the number of working age benefit recipients and a small reduction to the number of pension age recipients. Figures from May 2010 onwards reflect this change. For more information see: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/espa.pdf 5. Figures are published at: www.nomisweb.co.uk Source: NOMIS

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contingency plans he has in place for rolling out universal credit if real-time PAYE information is not available for all claimants.

Chris Grayling: Even though universal credit is on time and on budget, sensible contingencies –such as self-reporting of earnings are available—but the Department does not expect to draw on them.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to have made an estimate of the number of local authority staff that will be needed to deliver the universal credit face-to-face service.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions is working with the Department for Communities and Local Government, the devolved administrations and the local authority associations on these resource implications and once more detail is available, we expect to be in a position to provide the necessary information to assist resource planning by local authorities.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the £2 billion universal credit spending envelope he expects to spend in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Chris Grayling: Based on current plans, the universal credit programme is forecasting to spend £0.6 billion in 2013-14 and £1 billion in 2014-15
	The Department is also forecasting to spend £391 million in 2012-13 and has already spent £103 million in 2011-12.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people, found fit for work under the work capability assessment, submitted an appeal against that decision and subsequently died prior to the appeal being heard in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012.

Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.

TREASURY

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos;
	(2)  when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury does not currently hold any contracts with Atos.

Business: Loans

Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on the introduction of the National Loan Guarantee Scheme.

Mark Hoban: The National Loan Guarantee Scheme has been up and running since 20 March 2012 and is currently being rolled out nationwide by the participating banks. Thousands of businesses have already benefited from the scheme.

Child Trust Fund

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the savings from the abolition of the Child Trust Fund were allocated to each of the devolved administrations in 2011-12.

David Gauke: holding answer 11 June 2012
	Following the abolition of the Child Trust Fund, savings averaging over £20 million per annum were recycled to provide funding for Short Breaks for Disabled Children through the Early Intervention Grant (EIG). The EIG is not ring-fenced and it is for each local authority to determine how to use its overall allocation to best meet local needs and priorities. As this matter is devolved, the devolved Administrations received the following Barnett consequentials:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Scotland 1.683 2.104 2.525 2.946 
			 Wales 0.972 1.215 1.457 1.700 
			 Northern Ireland 0.564 0.706 0.847 0.988

Equitable Life

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of qualifying Equitable Life policyholders have received compensation to date; how many are awaiting compensation payments; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The scheme intends to publish a progress report in summer 2012 on the volumes and values of payments made.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the rise in fuel duty planned for August 2012 on (a) businesses and (b) families; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will consider cancelling the proposed rise in fuel duty planned for August 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: At the 2011 autumn statement, the Government decided to cancel the 1.92 ppl inflation increase that was planned for 1 August 2012, and to defer to that date the 3.02 ppl duty increase that was due to take effect on 1 January 2012. This decision provided support for motorists and businesses.
	At Budget 2012, the Government published their distributional analysis of the expected impact of announced Government measures on household incomes, split by direct taxes, indirect taxes and tax credits and benefits. This can be found in annex B of the Budget Report.
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all taxes under review.

Financial Services: Education

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will encourage more businesses in the financial services sector to volunteer in schools to support teachers in teaching financial capability.

Mark Hoban: The Money Advice Service is undertaking a strategic overview of the educational work of the financial services industry, to inform and improve the provision of financial education for young people in the UK. A two-part research project, which is expected to be completed by June 2012, will inform further work in this area.

Financial Services: Education

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Money Advice Service on access for young people to a good quality personal finance education.

Mark Hoban: Treasury Ministers have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions. The Money Advice Service is developing its role in financial education for young people as set out in its Money Advice business plan for 2012-13 which can be found at:
	http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/about/corporateinformation/publications.aspx

Pay

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff working for his Department, its Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are employed through off-payroll engagements costing less than £58,200 per annum; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: As at 1 June 2012, HM Treasury, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies had 34 staff who were not paid through payroll costing less than £58,200. These staff can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Paid secondments 8 
			 Contractors 8 
			 Temporary agency staff 18

Taxation: Business

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many company tax returns filed by companies (a) paying tax at the main rate, (b) in the FTSE 250 and (c) in the FTSE 100 in relation to accounting periods ending in the period from (i) 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005, (ii) 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006, (iii) 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007, (iv) 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 and (v) 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 have been opened for enquiry under the Finance Act 1998 by HM Revenue and Customs.

David Gauke: For the categories of company specified the following table sets out the number of company tax returns filed for accounting periods ending in the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2009 that have been opened for an inquiry under Finance Act 1998.
	
		
			 Accounting periods ending in Companies paying full rate Current FTSE 250 companies Current FTSE 100 companies 
			 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 10,416 69 51 
			 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 8,293 56 45 
			 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 6,169 59 36 
			 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 4,483 58 32 
			 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 3,247 58 25 
		
	
	The figures for inquiries into FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies do not include any inquiries into subsidiaries or other companies in the same group of any currently quoted FTSE 100 or FTSE 250 company.

Voluntary Contributions

Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many living persons made voluntary financial donations to the Exchequer in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: Seven living persons made voluntary financial donations to the Exchequer in 2011-12. A small amount was also made payable by members of the public to the Commissioners for the Reduction of National Debt in 2011-12.

TRANSPORT

Exceptional Hardship Scheme

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what circumstances an application to the Exceptional Hardship Scheme is reviewed by her or by a Minister acting on her behalf.

Justine Greening: Applications to the Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) are reviewed by the Secretary of State for Transport or a Minister acting on her behalf when:
	The majority independent panel does not reach a unanimous decision; or
	The Decision Maker (a senior civil servant with delegated authority from the Secretary of State to decide on EHS applications) disagrees with the panel's recommendation;
	The panel considers that there are extenuating circumstances such that the application should be accepted even though it does not satisfy all of the EHS criteria.

Pay

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has taken to introduce regional pay since 20 March 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The department is still considering its plans on reform of pay arrangements in light of the recently issued civil service pay guidance for 2012/13. This process takes place every year and departmental officials will begin consultation with the Trades Unions Side in each of the Agencies and DfT(c) in the coming months.

Railways: North West

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans to respond to HS2 Ltd's proposals on design options for a high speed line route to Manchester and Leeds.

Justine Greening: As stated in my written statement on 27 March 2012, Official Report, columns 134-35WS, I intend to publish my response in the autumn.

Road Works

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance and protocols she publishes to ensure full co-operation on road works and other matters between neighbouring counties.

Norman Baker: The Traffic Management Act 2004 introduced a Network Management Duty, which is the duty of a local traffic authority to manage their road network with a view to securing the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network, and facilitating the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority.
	The Secretary of State's Network Management Duty Guidance published in November 2004 includes techniques in network management aimed at providing local authorities with a good practice approach to performing the Network Management Duty. The Guidance states that local authorities should have in place systems to record and co-ordinate both planned utility works and planned road works, and that access to this information should be given to utilities, contractors and adjoining authorities so that they can review their activities in light of the activity of others.
	A new duty to co-operate was introduced through the Localism Act 2011. This requires local planning authorities, county councils, and other public bodies to work together constructively when they are planning for strategic cross boundary matters, such as transport infrastructure, in their local plans. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in March, sets out the strategic priorities that should be addressed by local planning authorities in their local plans and on which cooperation is expected.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Air Passenger Duty

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had on the introduction of an exemption from airport passenger duty for flights to and from Northern Ireland.

Owen Paterson: I have had no recent discussions on this matter.
	Northern Ireland Executive Ministers previously discussed the matter with Northern Ireland Office and Treasury Ministers and requested the devolution of Air Passenger Duty in respect of passengers travelling from Northern Ireland on direct long-haul flights that fell within bands B, C and D serving destinations of 2001 miles or greater.
	This request was agreed to by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), and will be provided for by schedule 23 of the Finance Bill which is currently before the House.

Fraud

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the level of (a) procurement and (b) other fraud affecting his Department's spending in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Owen Paterson: No incidents of procurement or other fraud were recorded in my Department during 2010-11 or 2011-12. The Northern Ireland Office has an anti-fraud policy that sets out responsibilities and procedures for preventing, detecting and reporting potential incidents of fraud.

Public Expenditure

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a statement of his Department's expenditure in each of the last 36 months; and what steps his Department is taking to avoid an annual underspend.

Owen Paterson: Comparable figures for the Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010. However, details of the Northern Ireland Office's expenditure are published in the financial statements which are available on the Northern Ireland Office website at:
	http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/foi/publication_scheme-foi/what_nio_spend_and_how_we_spend_it-foi.htm?keywords=financial+statements
	The Department is committed to publishing the 2011-12 audited financial statements by July 2012.
	The Department has in place a budget management process that allows the board to review any budget variances on a monthly basis and, if necessary, amend the budget allocation to ensure that funds are used as efficiently and effectively as possible.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has made any funding commitments to organisations which deal with victims of rape and gender violence in conflict.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) provides funding to a number of organisations which deal with victims of rape and gender violence in conflict. Often this work is a component of broader programming, including programmes for women and girls, conflict resolution and peace building, humanitarian response, access to health care and access to security and justice.
	In this regard, DFID has made funding commitments to the UN, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and a range of international and local civil society organisations. Specific examples of this include DFID's funding to UN Women. DFID is providing £3.25 million to their Women, Peace and Security programme (2010-13). This programme is being implemented in Uganda, Liberia, Haiti and Timor Leste and aims to ensure that women are able to contribute to and benefit from security measures and peace-building and peace-making processes at the community, national, regional and global levels. DFID also funds Womankind Worldwide and Gender Links through Programme Partnership Arrangements (£10.6 million). Their work includes supporting the implementation of national legislation, funding civil society organisations to provide services such as refuges/shelters, legal aid, advice and counselling for women; publicising women's rights and setting up centres of excellence for the inclusion of gender-related issues in the media and contributing to the improvement of National Action Plans to end violence against women and girls.

Burma

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to assist the delivery of humanitarian aid to conflict victims in Burma.

Alan Duncan: British aid is supporting humanitarian assistance in Kachin state, Burma, which is being delivered by a number of Kachin-based NGOs. Around 27,000 internally displaced people have received assistance in the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation, health and bedding. Further support is planned.
	Along the border between Thailand and Burma, British aid supports humanitarian needs for internally displaced people inside Burma by providing food security, sanitation and grants to help with the cost of schooling. We also provide food, shelter, other necessities and improved access to legal assistance to approximately 140,000 Burmese refugees in camps in Thailand. The total allocation for this work from 2009 to 2012 is more than £8 million. DFID will be implementing a new programme of humanitarian assistance for those fleeing conflict along the Thai-Burma border later this year.
	During visits to Burma from the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), all pressed the Burmese Government on the need for humanitarian access to conflict areas in Burma. I also raised this issue with Shwe Mann, Burma's Speaker of the Lower House, when he visited the UK in May.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Driving Offences: Insurance

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost to the police of apprehending and bringing charges against drivers accused of making fraudulent insurance claims in (a) 1997, (b) 2002 and (c) 2011.

Michael Penning: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Transport.
	The Department for Transport does not hold the information.

Entry Clearances: Appeals

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will investigate the reasons for the six-week delay to the visa appeal hearing of the wife of Philip English, constituent of the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire; and if she will take steps to speed up the appeal process to prevent such a delay occurring in the future.

Damian Green: Obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 mean that I am unable to comment publicly on this case.
	Although at present there are no plans under way to change the appeals process, the UK Border Agency consistently reviews its processes to provide the best service.

Festivals and Special Occasions: Security

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the use of unpaid staff by companies providing stewards for the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant; what measures were put in place to ensure the security of staff or volunteers engaged by companies contracted to provide stewards for the pageant; and whether her Department has had any discussions with the companies employed to provide stewards for the pageant on the recruitment, pay, accommodation and security of staff;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to ensure companies providing security for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games provide appropriate terms and conditions for the staff engaged by them; and if she will make it her policy that firms contracted to provide security for the Games should not be able to make a profit if they use unpaid staff;
	(3)  what checks her Department carried out in respect of Close Protection UK Ltd prior to awarding the company contracts to provide services for the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; what contracts have been awarded to the company for these events; and how performance will be assessed.

James Brokenshire: The Government have no contractual relationship with Close Protection UK in respect of either the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant or the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
	The Diamond Jubilee River Pageant was organised by a specially created company, the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation. The company was responsible for all aspects of the event, including contracting stewarding for the day.
	Provision of venue security at the Games is a matter for LOCOG, as event organiser. We understand that LOCOG has been working closely with all security and stewarding contractors to ensure that appropriate standards are met, including clear assurances on pay and conditions.

Human Trafficking Ministerial Group

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 May 2012, Official Report, column 792W, on the human trafficking ministerial group, whether there was agreement on establishing a Rapporteur on Human Trafficking independent of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group.

Damian Green: The Inter-Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking agreed that it acts as a sufficient equivalent mechanism to act as a National Rapporteur and. Its terms of reference have been drafted to reflect this.

HEALTH

Cord Blood: Donors

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many donations of umbilical cord blood took place in NHS hospitals in each of the last five years; and at which hospitals such donations were made;
	(2)  how many hospitals are equipped to take donations of umbilical cord blood in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) London, (d) the West Midlands and (e) Dudley.

Anne Milton: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), who run the NHS Cord Blood Bank, have advised that they have collected the following number of cord blood units from the following hospitals:
	
		
			  Cord blood units collected (per business year) 
			 Hospital cord blood collection centre for NHSBT 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Barnet General Hospital 528 543 539 475 533 
			 Northwick Park Hospital 600 529 477 369 971 
			 Luton and Dunstable Hospital 1,037 808 542 551 950 
			 Watford General Hospital 473 832 1,223 1,136 1,479 
			 St George's Hospital n/a n/a 385 924 1,573 
			 University College Hospital n/a n/a n/a n/a 429 
		
	
	Anthony Nolan have advised that they have collected the following number of cord blood units from the following hospitals and are due to open a collection centre in Birmingham Women's Hospital shortly:
	
		
			  Cord blood units collected (per calendar year) 
			 Hospital cord blood collection centre for Anthony Nolan 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Royal Free Hospital n/a n/a n/a n/a 21 230 
			 Leicester Royal Infirmary n/a n/a n/a 69 873 822 
			 Leicester General Hospital n/a n/a n/a 17 477 526 
			 Kings College Hospital 1 115 461 622 1,092 587 
		
	
	The hospitals listed in the tables above collect altruistic cord blood donations from mothers for the public cord blood banks. It is up to each national health service trust in the United Kingdom to decide whether it wishes to allow the private collection of cord blood samples in its maternity units.

Clinical Commissioning

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what direction he has issued to the (a) Health Commissioning Board, (b) local clinical commissioning groups and (c) other agencies in the National Health Service on the commercial input and partnership required for the establishment of Commissioning Support Services; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Clinical commissioning groups will have the freedom to decide how they carry out their commissioning functions and what support they use to help them.
	The detailed strategy for developing commissioning support services is set out in the document “Developing Commissioning Support: Towards Service Excellence”, a copy has been placed in the Library. The strategy describes how the NHS Commissioning Board will build capability in the national health service staff who deliver the majority of commissioning support and involve external suppliers in building capacity and capability. The NHS Commissioning Board Authority's Business Development Unit is working with the range of stakeholders to ensure that suppliers from all sectors are able to contribute to the development of a commissioning support market.

King's Mill Hospital

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many patients waited longer than four hours in the accident and emergency ward at King’s Mill Hospital, Nottinghamshire between (a) January and March 2012 and (b) January and March 2011;
	(2)  how many patients waited longer than four hours in the accident and emergency ward at King’s Mill Hospital, Nottinghamshire in each of the last three years.[Official Report, 25 June 2012, Vol. 547, c. 1MC.]

Simon Burns: Information is not available at hospital level. Information is however available at trust level. King's Mill hospital is part of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
	The numbers of patients who waited longer than four hours in the accident and emergency departments at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in quarter 4 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Period Type 1 Departments—Major accident and emergency (A and E) Type 2 Departments—Single Specialty Type 3 Departments -Other A and E/Minor Injury Unit 
			 2010-11 Quarter 4 796 0 12 
			 2011-12 Quarter 4 1,310 0 41 
			 Source: Unify2data Collection 
		
	
	The numbers pf patients who waited longer than four hours in the accident and emergency departments at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation from 2009-10 to 2011-12 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Period Type 1 Departments—Major A and E Type 2 Departments—Single Specialty Type 3 Departments—Other A and E/ Minor Injury Unit 
			 2009-10 1,351 0 36 
			 2010-11 991 0 25 
			 2011-12 4,074 0 135 
			 Note: Data is taken from the weekly sitrep collection for 2009-10 and 2010-11 up to July. Data is taken from the monthly sitreps collection for August, September and October 2010-11. Data is taken from the weekly A and E collection for November 2010-11 onwards. Source: Unify2data Collection

Obesity: Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the potential savings to the NHS of reducing obesity levels amongst those in compulsory education.

Anne Milton: The Government have not undertaken an assessment of the potential savings to the national health service if obesity levels were reduced in school children. However, the estimated cost of obesity and the overweight to the NHS across the population (in terms of the cost of treating, for adults and children, the conditions and diseases attributable to obesity) is £5.1 billion.

Obesity: Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated for tackling obesity in schools in (a) 2012 and (b) each subsequent year up to 2015.

Anne Milton: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to decide how to use their allocation to improve the health of their population, including tackling child obesity. All PCTs currently participate in the National Child Measurement Programme, which weighs and measures children aged 4-5 and 10-11 years in schools, informing parents about their child's results and providing follow up advice and support. Additionally, the Department is investing £8.6 million in 2012-13, £8 million in 2013-14, and £8 million in 2014-15 to help tackle obesity in schools through the School Games and Change4Life School Sports Clubs.

Obesity: Young People

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 18 years in each (a) socio-economic, (b) ethnic and (c) gender group were diagnosed with suspected obesity-related conditions in each of the last 10 years.

Anne Milton: This information is not collected by the Department.

Smoking and Alcohol-related Diseases

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating (a) smoking and (b) alcohol-related diseases.

Anne Milton: The estimated cost to the national health service of treating smoking-related illnesses in 2006-07 was £2.7 billion. Further information about NHS costs relating to smoking is set out in paragraph 2.10 of “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England”, published in March 2011. This document has already been placed in the Library.
	The Department estimates that alcohol misuse cost the NHS in England about £3.5 billion in 2009-10. This figure relates to all costs incurred by the NHS, including hospital admissions, outpatient visits, accident and emergency attendances, general practitioner consultations and other costs.

Society of Sports Therapists

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will regulate the Society of Sports Therapists through the Health Professions Council before the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Anne Milton: The Department has seen no evidence to demonstrate that compulsory statutory regulation for Sports Therapists is necessary in addition to the existing safeguards in the system and there are no plans to introduce regulation for this group.
	The Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides for the accreditation of voluntary registers by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (which will be renamed the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care). Individuals on an accredited voluntary register will be required to meet standards of training and education which will have been quality assured to ensure they are robust and appropriate.

Telemedicine

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to publish the data from his Department's telehealth and telecare trial.

Paul Burstow: The Whole System Demonstrator is a complex study comprising of over 6,000 people across three sites and independently evaluated by six leading academic institutions. The results of the telehealth and telecare trial will be published in full, after an independent peer review and that process is still ongoing. As soon as the review is completed, the papers will be published in a respected peer journal.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Al Qaeda: Cybercrime

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent call by Al Qaeda operatives for cyber attacks.

William Hague: We are aware of the recent call by Al Qaeda for cyber attacks on western targets. This is not the first time they have issued such threats.
	The UK's National Cyber Security Strategy acknowledges that cyberspace is already used by terrorists to spread propaganda, radicalise potential supporters, raise funds, communicate and plan. The threat that terrorists might use cyberspace to facilitate or to mount attacks against the UK is growing. We judge that it will continue to do so, especially if terrorists believe that our national infrastructure may be vulnerable. The £650 million four-year National Cyber Security Programme is expanding our understanding of the threats and vulnerabilities in cyberspace that affect the UK and increasing our ability to protect the UK and respond to incidents.

Debts Written Off

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much bad debt was written off by his Department in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: No bad debt was written off by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2010-11. The Department's 2011-12 year end position is not yet finalised. The annual report and accounts to be published in July will contain details of any amounts written off during 2011-12 if relevant.
	The FCO reviews bad debts on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Overdue debts are rigorously pursued by the department and only written off when the chances of recovery are remote and the cost of pursuing the debt would not represent value for money.

Gabon

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to open an embassy in Libreville, Gabon.

Henry Bellingham: There are no plans to reopen an embassy at present but we are keen to strengthen bilateral links. The Prime Minister met President Bongo in May and I visited Gabon in July 2011. We are in the process of recruiting a commercial officer based in Libreville who will support British companies looking to invest in Gabon. Our Cameroon-based ambassador and his staff will continue to travel regularly to Libreville to support our bilateral objectives.

Human Rights

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how many staff in each of his Department's missions work on human rights;
	(2)  how many full-time employees of his Department work exclusively on human rights issues;
	(3)  how many human rights specialist positions were vacant in his Department in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Browne: Human rights represent an integral part of our foreign policy. All the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s embassies and high commissions have a responsibility to monitor and promote human rights. The amount of staff resource devoted varies over time because these responsibilities are carried out at different levels of seniority, in response to developments. For individual staff this work is normally one part of a broader role.
	We do not hold information centrally on the number of positions devoted exclusively to human rights work, specialist or otherwise, but we estimate that we have the equivalent of approximately 240 full-time employees working on human rights in the UK and overseas. This includes 25 permanent staff, plus one contracted human rights adviser within the Human Rights and Democracy Department in London.
	More information on the FCO's priorities including resources allocated to human rights work can be found in the FCO's 2011 Human Rights and Democracy Report available at:
	www.fco.gov.uk/hrdreport

Mutual Societies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff who will transfer from his Department, its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies workforce to a mutual in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: There are no plans to transfer Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff to mutuals. Staffing decisions in the FCO's agencies and non departmental public bodies are devolved and information relating to them is not held centrally but we are not aware of any such plans.

Public Expenditure

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement of his Department's expenditure in each of the last 36 months; and what steps his Department is taking to avoid an annual underspend.

David Lidington: HM Treasury publishes monthly expenditure data for all Departments from their COINS database. This data are available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_coins_data.htm
	HM Treasury will publish data for the 12 months to March 2012 in August 2012.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) aims to spend within 1% of its resource departmental expenditure limit (RDEL) each year. The FCO Management Board monitors the Department's budget on a monthly basis and reprioritises in-year resources in order to seek the best value for the tax-payer and to achieve the Government's foreign policy priorities.

UN Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government considered nominating a UK candidate for the committee elections for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women to be held on 26 June 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: No UK candidate has been put forward for the elections to the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on 26 June. The UK is committed to supporting meritocratic appointments and elections to international jobs in the United Nations and other international organisations and has a very good record in getting good UK candidates elected. The Government support the CEDAW convention and would both welcome the nomination of good UK candidates to the Committee and support any candidate that emerged.

UN Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government has ever nominated a UK candidate for the committee elections for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: The Government have not nominated a UK candidate for elections to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The UK is committed to supporting meritocratic appointments and elections to international jobs in the United Nations and other international organisations and has a very good record in getting good UK candidates elected. The Government support the CEDAW convention and would both welcome the nomination of good UK candidates to the Committee and support any candidate that emerged.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government has made to the government of Ukraine on the case of Yulia Tymoshenko.

William Hague: As I said in my statement to the House of 15 May 2012, Official Report, column 420, we have made very clear representations to the Government of Ukraine about Yulia Tymoshenko. Along with other EU partners we have made strong representations about her case and other trials that do not appear to have followed due process. While these concerns remain, the Association Agreement that has been negotiated between Ukraine and the EU will not be brought into force. We welcome recent developments such as the provision of medical care to Mrs Tymoshenko with the assistance of Germany. We will continue to pursue Ms Tymoshenko’s case and others vigorously with Ukraine.

CABINET OFFICE

Fraud

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the level of (a) procurement and (b) other fraud affecting his Department's spending in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: While detected fraud was not reported before 2010, levels are now published in departmental QDS.
	Details of my Department's financial and procurement controls can be found on pages 138 and 139 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2010-11.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on his Department's plans to reform non-departmental public bodies.

Francis Maude: So far 92 quangos have been directly abolished and another 103 merged together to leave 50. Our overall plans will get rid of a third of public bodies and will save the taxpayer £2.6 billion over the spending review period

Offices

Guy Opperman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the (a) Cabinet Secretary and (b) Head of the Home Civil Service has a dedicated personal office in his Department; whether it is a shared or open plan office; and what the floor area is of each of the personal offices.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Secretary and the Head of the Home Civil Service each have offices in the Cabinet Office.

Public Sector

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many times his Department has consulted non-public sector bodies on the Open Public Services White Paper since its publication in July 2011.

Francis Maude: While we do not hold details of all contact with non-public sector organisations, we talk regularly to public and non-public sector bodies, think tanks, mutuals, private sector providers, and others, as part of our ongoing work on Open Public Services.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Welfare: Circuses

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what period of time licences will be granted for the use of wild animals in circuses.

James Paice: The Animal Welfare Act 2006 allows for the duration of a licence to be set at the discretion of the inspectorate, but only up to a maximum of three years. We have made clear that we anticipate that circus licences, at least initially, will be required annually. The length of any licences granted after that will depend on several factors, including when and how our proposed ban on wild animals in travelling circuses is implemented.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she plans to introduce a formal tuberculosis testing regime for camelids.

James Paice: There is no mandatory TB surveillance programme for camelids because they are not regarded as significant reservoirs of TB infection for other species.
	Surveillance for TB infection in camelids in Great Britain relies primarily on notifications of suspected cases detected during post mortem examination by private veterinarians and Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) regional laboratories. Owners and their private veterinarians are under legal obligation to notify such cases to AHVLA.
	In March, AHVLA reported the results of research funded by the British Alpaca Society, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd into the validation of “ante mortem” TB tests in camelids. DEFRA officials are in discussion with the industry on how these tests can best be deployed within the present TB surveillance programme.

Dairy Farming

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to issue guidance on the formation of producer organisations under the EU Dairy Package.

James Paice: Public guidance is available to dairy farmers wishing to form producer organisations under current agricultural and competition rules here:
	http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/ca-and-cartels/OFT740rev.pdf
	The basic criteria for the formation of even larger producer organisations under the EU Dairy Package are laid out clearly in Council Regulation 261/2012 but the final Commission Regulations have not been published yet.
	DEFRA officials have been and continue to liaise closely with representatives throughout the industry to ensure they are fully aware of the possibilities that producer organisations bring.

Dairy Farming

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the sustainability of the dairy industry.

James Paice: I firmly believe the British dairy industry can be amongst the best in the world the most competitive, the most productive, and the most sustainable.
	The keys to achieving this are seizing market opportunities and increasing industry collaboration so that the whole supply chain is working together towards this goal.
	At my dairy supply chain forum over the last two years I have heard and encouraged the achievement of these aims through the dairy roadmap, the dairy 2020 industry sustainability initiative and the ongoing negotiation of a voluntary code of practice to improve contractual relationships between farmers and processors.

Sheep: Numbers

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the level of sheep populations in (a) Cumbria, (b) the Lake District National Park and (c) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in each of the last 10 years

James Paice: The number of sheep on commercial holdings(1) in Cumbria, the Lake District National Park and Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency(2) for 2001 to 2010 are shown in the following table.
	(1 )Commercial holdings are those with significant levels of farming activity. These significant levels are classified as any holding with more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
	(2 )Figures for 2001 to 2009 are based on old parliamentary constituencies boundaries used before the 2010 reclassification. Results for 2010 are based on the new parliamentary constituency boundaries.
	
		
			  Cumbria Lake District National Park Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency 
			 2001 1,497,662 570,049 559,923 
			 2002 1,799,755 648,429 535,767 
			 2003 1,949,091 684,780 561,329 
			 2004 2,025,071 731,346 570,150 
			 2005 2,047,928 718,862 576,490 
			 2006 2,038,602 728,196 562,904 
			 2007 2,005,938 692,121 530,479 
			 2008 2,028,133 697,284 536,667 
			 2009 1,909,902 658,896 499,695 
			 2010 1,924,912 661,527 453,755

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos;
	(2)  when each contract between his Department and Atos was most recently (a) agreed, (b) renewed and (c) extended.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have any contracts with Atos.

Carbon Emissions: Wind Power

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the carbon equivalent of emissions caused by (a) the manufacture and installation of the concrete bases of wind turbines and (b) the manufacture of wind turbines for turbines installed in the UK in the last year for which figures are available.

Charles Hendry: DECC does not hold specific information on carbon emissions relating to the manufacture and installation of wind turbines in the UK for any given year.
	The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology(1) has compared the carbon footprint(2) of different UK electricity generating technologies based on analysis of a number of research reports and life cycle assessments. It found that onshore wind power has a carbon footprint range of between 8 and 20gCO2eq/kWh(3). By comparison, the average emissions from mainly fossil fuelled power generation in the UK were around 500 gCO2/kWh in 2008.
	It reported that 98% of the total life cycle CO2 emissions associated with onshore wind occur during the manufacturing and construction phases arising from the production of steel for the tower, concrete for the foundations and epoxy/fibreglass for the rotor blades. Emissions generated during the operation of wind turbines are relatively small and arise mainly from routine maintenance inspection trips.
	A number of research projects suggest that the average wind farm is expected to generate at least 20 to 25 times the energy used in its manufacture, installation, operation and eventual decommissioning over its lifetime, and the average energy payback time for a wind farm is between three and 10 months(4).
	(1) Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Note (Postnote) 268 at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn268.pdf
	which was updated in June 2011 by Postnote 383 at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn_383-carbon-footprint-electricity-generation.pdf
	(2) This is the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of generating plants. This footprint is expressed in terms of grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour of generation (gCO2eq/kWh).
	(3) Carbon emissions relating to the manufacture and installation of wind turbines will depend on a range of factors including size and type of turbine, extraction of any raw materials and processes and energy type used to manufacture turbine components, method of transport of components to the site, and location and typography of the site.
	(4) See Centre for Sustainable energy (May 2011)—common concerns about wind power:
	http://www.cse.org.uk/downloads/file/common_concerns_about_wind_power.pdf
	Sustainable Development Commission, (2005). Wind Power in the UK. A guide to the key issues surrounding onshore wind power development in the UK:
	www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/Wind_Energy-NovRev2005.pdf
	Analysis is generally based on an average 20 year lifespan for the wind turbine. It should be noted that emissions will be affected by a number of factors including wind speed at the site, the type of turbines installed, and the type of energy which is being replaced.

Combined Heat and Power

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has visited any cities in Europe which are seeking to become zero carbon through the promotion of combined heat and power technology; and what research he has commissioned on such cities.

Gregory Barker: DECC Ministers and senior officials have visited a number of European cities including in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as pioneering cities in the UK, to learn more about various low carbon options including CHP. Officials keep abreast of international developments as part of their evidence-gathering to inform development of the Government's long-term heat strategy.

Fuel Poverty

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of fuel poverty in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency.

Gregory Barker: The coalition Government are committed to tackling fuel poverty and supporting vulnerable consumers to heat their homes at an affordable cost.
	We continue to fund the Warm Front scheme, providing low income vulnerable households, living in energy inefficient properties, with a range of energy efficient heating and insulation measures. Since 2005 Warm Front has assisted 5,721 households in Birmingham, Hall Green Constituency(1). Since the start of the scheme in June 2000 the scheme has assisted 2.3 million households across England.
	In Winter 2011-12, the Warm Home Discount scheme provided energy supplier funded discounts to well over 660,000 of the poorest pensioners across Great Britain with a core group discount of £120 off their electricity bills. Nearly 600,000 of these customers will have received the discount without having to claim as a result of data matching between Government and energy suppliers. This is a significant benefit for a group which may struggle to claim. Other low income vulnerable households may also be assisted through the scheme. Overall we expect 2 million low income vulnerable households a year to be assisted through the Warm Home Discount scheme.
	In addition, Government provide pensioner households with winter fuel payments to help with additional heating costs during the Winter. Cold weather payments are also made to low income and vulnerable households where there is an average temperature of 0°C or below for seven consecutive days. These payments have been permanently increased to £25 per week and in winter 2011-12 over 5 million cold weather payments were paid in Great Britain worth an estimated £129 million.
	(1) This information is only available post 2005.

Fuel Poverty

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of trends of the prevalence of fuel poverty over the last 10 years among households containing people (a) over and (b) under retirement age; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the number of fuel poor households in England containing someone aged 60 or over; and households containing only people below the age of 60, for each of the years 2003 to 2010 (the years for which this information is available).
	
		
			  Households containing someone aged 60 or over, in Fuel Poverty in England Households containing only people below the age of 60, in Fuel Poverty in England 
			  Number of households (thousand) Percentage of households (%) Number of households (thousand) Percentage of households (%) 
			 2003 634 8.9 587 4.3 
			 2004 604 8.2 633 4.7 
			 2005 794 10.6 736 . 5.4 
			 2006 1,285 17.0 1,147 8.4 
			 2007 1,462 18.4 1,361 10.1 
			 2008 1,720 22.1 1,615 11.9 
			 2009 2,045 26.5 1,920 13.9 
			 2010 1,886 23.7 1,649- 12.1

Fuel Poverty

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's (a) wind and (b) renewables policies on fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: The estimated impacts of policies are published by the department impact assessments for those policies. These typically include an assessment of the impact of policies on fuel poverty and household energy bills. However, no assessment has been made of the aggregate effect of (a) wind and (b) renewable policies on fuel poverty.

Natural Gas

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the level of liquid natural gas imports in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Charles Hendry: In 2011 the UK imported 270,733 gigawatt hours (GWh) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) which accounted for 47% of total natural gas imports. In the first quarter of 2012 the UK imported 39,332 GWh which accounted for 24% of total natural gas imports.
	LNG imports by country of origin are published on the Department of Energy and Climate Change's website in monthly Energy Trends table ET 4.4 and can be found at this website address:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/media/viewfile.ashx?filetype=4&filepath=Statistics/source/gas/et4_4.xls&minwidth=true
	Monthly Energy Trends tables are updated on the last Thursday of each month.

Public Expenditure

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish a statement of his Department's expenditure in each of the last 36 months; and what steps he is taking to avoid an annual underspend.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 12 June 2012
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change's spending for the core Department and four arm’s length bodies (the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Coal Authority, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, and the Committee on Climate change) is published on the Combined On-line Information System (COINS).
	
		
			 £000 
			  April May June July August September October November December 
			 2009-10          
			 AME 130,252 168,679 157,584 154,307 164,840 158,440 20,353 168,542 156,981 
			 DEL 237.174 242,641 105.842 238,279 223.779 291,257 201,383 161,212 291,156 
			 DEL and AME 367,426 411,320 263,426 392,586 388,619 449,697 221,736 329,754 448.137 
			           
			 2010-11          
			 AME -497 -4,936 -29,652 -3,949 -10,810 -36,526 -12.997 -5,951 -5,952 
			 DEL 72,202 229,669 337,076 207,131 200,917 284,862 215,383 372,406 305,230 
			 DEL and AME 71,705 224,733 307,424 203.182 190,107 248,336 202,386 366,455 299,278 
			           
			 2011-12          
			 AME -2,194 -6,853 -5,979 -14,791 -3,719 -15,481 -35,555 121,510 -32,622 
			 DEL 161,891 222,895 259,414 188,513 171,324 249,736 -60,680 214,507 317,168 
			 DEL and AME 159,697 216,042 253,435 173,722 167,605 234,255 -96,235 336,017 284,546 
		
	
	
		
			 £000 
			  January February March Total 
			 2009-10     
			 AME 181,096 167,972 2,170,953 3,799,999 
			 DEL 217,857 262,571 529,436 3,002,587 
			 DEL and AME 398,953 430,543 2.700,389 6,802,586 
			      
			 2010-11     
			 AME -15,670 -7,712 2,217,809 2,083,157 
			 DEL 194,425 245,292 535,014 3,199,607 
			 DEL and AME 178,755 237,580 2,752,823 5,282,764 
			      
			 2011-12     
			 AME -15,782 90,078 3,564,196 3.642,808 
			 DEL 96,140 291,652 493,432 2,605,992 
			 DEL and AME 80,358 381,730 4,057,628 6,248,800 
		
	
	A link to the COINS site is as follows:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/coins
	The Department aims to minimise underspends by continuous improvement of its financial management processes so that underspends early can be identified and redeployed in a constructive manner. The Department is also working to strengthen project management so that underspends are less likely to arise and is introducing a portfolio management process to make best use of available budget.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on recruitment, to what extent his Department and its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies used name-blank CVs or the blind sift function on the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system to recruit staff in the last year.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not use the Civil Service Resourcing e-recruitment system.
	The Department does not use name blank CVs or blind sifting for its own recruitment purposes.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of feed-in tariff payments for (a) solar and (b) wind installations have been paid on the measured input of electricity to the grid to date.

Gregory Barker: Ofgem holds data on payments made by FITs suppliers up to 31 December 2011. For the period from the beginning of the feed-in tariffs scheme (1 April 2010) until that date, the total payments made by FITs suppliers for electricity exported from FITs installations was £2,679,226.81. A significant proportion of this was for “deemed” exports for domestic installations without export meters. £613,291.37 was for exports to the grid from larger, metered installations.
	Information on payments per technology is not available; though solar PV currently accounts for the substantial majority of FITs payments.

Wind Power

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to build wind energy storage; and how such storage will be funded.

Charles Hendry: The building of new wind energy storage is a commercial decision for business. However, given the potential role for storage to support the balancing of the supply and demand of electricity, DECC has identified storage as one of the specific technology areas which should be supported with energy innovation funding—from the over £200 million allocated for the Department to support low-carbon technologies over the four financial years from April 2011.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband: Devon

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made on the delivery of superfast broadband in Devon.

Edward Vaizey: The Devon and Somerset project has commenced its procurement process and held a market warming event with suppliers on 24 April 2012. In addition, following further analysis of Devon's needs, we have allocated Connecting Devon and Somerset an additional £171 million to address the issue of exchange only lines in Devon, taking the total allocation for Devon, Somerset, Plymouth, Torbay, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset to £33.72 million. The funding is subject to funding from local sources being made available to match it.

JUSTICE

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on the updating of published data in line with the Government's transparency agenda in each month since September 2011.

Kenneth Clarke: Central records on the staff time spent on collecting, collating, redacting and updating transparency data, across Ministry of Justice business groups, each month since September 2011 are not routinely kept. To provide a reasonable cost estimate would involve disproportionate cost. However, as part of the NAO's Implementing Transparency report the department estimated the cost of providing corporate data as set out in the Prime Minister's open letter of May 2010 on Open Data and Transparency to be £83,806 for 2011-12.

Driving Offences: Insurance

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of court proceedings arising from the trial of people accused of being uninsured drivers in the years (a) 1997, (b) 2002 and (c) 2011; and if he will estimate the time taken by such proceedings in each year.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice has no records relating to the costs of operating magistrates courts prior to the creation of Her Majesty's Courts Service on 1 April 2005. The timings associated with the court records maintained by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) do not provide a reliable basis for the estimation of the time taken by particular types of proceedings. As a result it is not possible to provide estimates of court costs or time for 1997 or 2002. HMCTS has derived average court timings from survey data as an element of its activity based costing. Based on these data the estimated direct court and bench costs, excluding non-cash expenditure such as depreciation, of court proceedings relating to people accused of being uninsured drivers in 2011 was £6.9 million. The estimated time taken by such proceedings was 21,600 hours.

Freedom of Information

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to bring forward proposals to extend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to companies working for government departments.

Kenneth Clarke: Already under the Government’s transparency agenda a wide range of contracts between public bodies and private contractors are made public. For example, central Government contracts over £10,000 and local government contracts over £500 are now proactively published.
	The Government’s “Open Data Consultation” sought views on the types of organisations to which an Open Data policy would apply. A summary of the responses has been published at
	www.data.gov.uk
	The Freedom of Information Act itself is subject to post-legislative scrutiny by the Justice Select Committee to see how it is working in practice.
	The Government will consider the recommendations of the Committee along with the evidence of the Open Data consultation, before bringing forward any proposals for future policy on freedom of information.

Human Trafficking: Victim Support

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support scheme operated by the Salvation Army in April 2012; in which region each of the suspected victims was found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme.

Crispin Blunt: In April 2012 there were 41 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by the Salvation Army. Details are provided in the following table.
	
		
			 April 2012 
			 Nationality Gender Region Referring agency 
			 Albanian Female South East Social services 
			 Albanian Female South East NGO 
			 Albanian Female Wales NGO 
			 Chinese Female West Midlands NGO 
			 Chinese Female South East NGO 
			 Chinese Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Chinese Male North West UKBA 
			 Congolese Female South East Social services 
			 Czech Male Yorkshire Local authority 
			 Czech Female South East Police 
		
	
	
		
			 Egyptian Female South East Police 
			 Hungarian Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Hungarian Female Yorkshire Police 
			 Hungarian Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Hungarian Male Yorkshire Police 
			 Indian Male North West UKBA 
			 Latvian Male North East NGO 
			 Lithuanian Male South East NGO 
			 Lithuanian Female South East Self-referral 
			 Lithuanian Male South East Self-referral 
			 Lithuanian Female West Midlands Probation service 
			 Nigerian Female South East Police 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female North East Police 
			 Nigerian Female South East NGO 
			 Nigerian Female Yorkshire UKBA 
			 Nigerian Female North West UKBA 
			 Not known Male South East Social services 
			 Not known Female Not known Self-referral 
			 Portuguese Female South East Police 
			 Portuguese Female South East Police 
			 Romanian Female West Midlands NGO 
			 Romanian Male South East Police 
			 Sierra Leone Female South East NGO 
			 Slovakian Male South East Probation service 
			 Slovakian Female South East NGO 
			 Somali Male East Midlands UKBA 
			 Ugandan Female South East NGO 
			 UK Male East Police 
			 UK Female North East NGO 
			 Vietnamese Female South East UKBA

EDUCATION

Child Protection

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what discussions he has had in his Department on the Working Together statutory guidance;
	(2)  whether he plans to revise the Working Together statutory guidance;
	(3)  what discussions have taken place in his Department on revising the 2010 statutory guidance on Working together to safeguard children;
	(4)  what plans he has for revising the 2010 statutory guidance on Working together to safeguard children.

Tim Loughton: The Government accepted Professor Eileen Munro's recommendation, made in her final report into the review of Child Protection ‘A child-centred system’, that a major, revision of the statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ is needed.
	Professor Munro argues that ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ has become too long to be practically useful and that it hinders the use of professional judgment. She believes the current guidance has led to a culture of compliance and dependency which has stifled individual professional judgment and local innovation.
	We launched a consultation on 12 June:
	‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’: statutory guidance on what is expected of organisations, individually and jointly, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;
	‘Managing individual cases: the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families’: statutory guidance on undertaking assessments of children in need; and
	‘Statutory Guidance on Learning and Improvement’: statutory guidance on arrangements for Serious Case Reviews, reviews of child deaths and other learning processes led by Local Safeguarding Children Boards:
	The Government are determined to take a new approach to statutory guidance that changes behaviour and helps create a culture in which professional judgment and local innovation are allowed to flourish.
	In order to develop the guidance on which we are now consulting a multi-disciplinary Professional Advisory Group was convened and has informed the Department's work on revisions to the statutory guidance.
	The three new documents provide essential clarity on requirements while allowing scope for professional judgment and innovation. I believe they will drive the behaviours that will help protect more children. The closing date for the consultation is 4 September.

School Examinations

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of recent trends in the standard of examinations in schools.

Nick Gibb: Ofqual is responsible for ensuring that qualifications and assessments are of a high quality and an appropriate standard. It must also safeguard and maintain examination standards over time. Glenys Stacey, Ofqual's Chief Regulator, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Glenys Stacey, dated 11 June 2012
	I am writing in response to your parliamentary question about what assessment the Secretary of State has made of recent trends in the standard of examinations in schools. We have been asked to respond on his behalf.
	As part of our work to maintain standards, we carry out regular reviews to look at the standards of qualifications in different years. We aim to judge whether standards have been maintained over time and to compare standards between awarding organisations.
	We use the findings from these reviews to inform our wider work, particularly when we are developing regulations for future qualifications.
	Standards reviews look at different specifications within a qualification, the question papers and any other assessments, as well as student work, and we collate and analyse the views of a number of subject specialists. We focus on the relative demand of the qualifications. We judge demand in terms of the following:
	specification factors, including assessment objectives, content and structure;
	assessment factors, including what content is assessed and how, the weighting of each component and how the assessments are marked; and
	student performance factors, including how students at particular grades responded to the assessments.
	We collect materials on a regular basis from the five awarding organisations (AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC) where they offer the qualifications being reviewed. Not all awarding organisations offer all subjects. Where an awarding organisation offers more than one specification in a subject, we collect materials for the largest entry specification. The materials we look at include the specification, question papers and mark schemes, reports of examiners, student work and statistical evidence. We use subject experts to carry out the reviews. These subject experts are independent but we also include representatives from the awarding organisations and subject associations/learned societies.
	We have recently completed work on seven standards reviews. We compared the standards of qualifications across years in the following subjects. In some cases the two qualifications were based on the same specification; in other cases there was a specification change in the meantime.
	1. GCSE biology 2003 and 2008
	2. GCSE chemistry 2003 and 2008
	3. GCSE mathematics 2004 and 2008
	4. A level biology 2003 and 2008
	5. A level chemistry 2003 and 2008
	6. A level critical thinking 2010
	7. A level geography 2001 and 2010
	In the GCSEs we reviewed (biology, chemistry and mathematics) we found that changes to the structure of the assessments, rather than changes to the content, reduced the demand of some qualifications. These qualifications have since been replaced with revised specifications. In the case of the sciences, where the new specifications have been used since September 2011, these new qualifications were designed to be more demanding.
	In the A level subjects we reviewed, in general we found that changes to the way the content was assessed had an impact on demand, in many cases reducing it. In two of the reviews (biology and chemistry) the specifications were the same for both years. We found that the demand in 2008 was lower than in 2003, usually because the structure of the assessments had changed. Often there were more short answer, structured questions. As a result, students did not have as many opportunities to show their higher order skills in 2008. These specifications have since been replaced.
	In geography there were changes to the specifications between 2001 and 2010. Changes to the content meant that some specifications had less scientific content in 2010. We found that the removal of coursework in 2010 reduced the overall demand of the qualification and may have meant students were less well prepared for higher education.
	We also reviewed critical thinking qualifications for a single year (2010). The qualifications are offered by only two awarding organisations. We found some variation in the content of the two specifications but overall we found that the qualifications were comparable.
	GCSEs will be revised following the National Curriculum Review in England and A levels will also be revised in the near future. We will use the findings from these reviews to inform the development of regulations for those new qualifications.
	If you would like further information on this part of our work, please do get in touch with our Director of Standards, Dennis Opposs on 02476 716647 or at:
	dennis.opposs@ofqual.gov.uk

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Departmental Staff

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General what target he has set to reduce headcount across the Law Officers' Departments and executive agency in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Garnier: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) planned to reduce headcount by 540 in 2011-12; and has plans to reduce headcount by a further 250 in the current financial year. The CPS did not set a target for 2010-11.
	Since 2010 the remaining Law Officers' Departments have been able to meet their efficiency targets without the need to set targets to reduce headcount. No targets have been set for 2012-13.

Public Expenditure

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish a statement of the Law Officers' Departments expenditure in each of the last 36 months; and what steps his Department takes to avoid an annual underspend.

Edward Garnier: Tables containing the information requested have been placed in the Library of the House.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) reviews its progress on delivering objectives, changes to priorities, and expenditure against budget on a monthly basis. In addition each quarter TSol forecasts and reviews its annual resource outturn. These reviews inform decisions on the reallocation and reprioritisation of resources throughout the year. The spending review settlements for the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate are both managed and reported on by TSol.
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) aims to spend no less and no more than is needed to fulfil its statutory functions. To achieve this, the CPS maintains an effective system of financial control and closely monitors expenditure against its internal budgets and its overall Vote. The primary purpose of this system is not to avoid an under spend but to ensure that resources are used to the best effect and that public funds are spent wisely and in accordance with Managing Public Money.
	The Serious Fraud Office continues to innovate so that it can deliver more for less and improve its service for the victims of economic crime. There is considerable challenge in forecasting and managing income and expenditure linked to processing major cases through the criminal justice system. Cases and finances are regularly monitored and reviewed in order to optimise value for money within existing funding levels.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many improvised explosive devices (a) were defused and (b) exploded in Afghanistan in each month since August 2011.

Nick Harvey: The information requested is not held centrally for the whole of Afghanistan. Data are more readily available for the Task Force Helmand area of operations in Helmand province, which includes the majority of UK forces deployed to Afghanistan.
	The figures for improvised explosive device (IED) ‘finds’ in the following table refers to devices which have been found by, or reported to, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) units in the Task Force Helmand area of operations. Similarly, the figures for ‘explosions’ refer to explosions that have subsequently been reported by ISAF units operating within the Task Force Helmand area of operations. These includes both ‘laid’ IEDs and suicide (both vehicle and person-borne) devices.
	
		
			 Month IED finds IED explosions 
			 2011   
			 August 88 77 
			 September 138 38 
			 October 102 47 
			 November 144 41 
			 December 127 61 
			    
			 2012   
			 January 123 57 
			 February 125 40 
			 March 126 44 
			 April 138 39 
		
	
	For IED finds, information is not held on what action was subsequently taken, although the possible courses of action include controlled detonation of the IED.
	These data are based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate. Not least this is because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in what is a complex, fast-moving, multinational operational environment.

Aircraft Carriers

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what contracts his Department has agreed relating exclusively to the conversion of the aircraft carrier to a Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery configuration since May 2010; and what the value was of each contract;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on feasibility studies on conversion of the aircraft carrier to a Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery configuration since May 2010;
	(3)  how much was spent on the concept development phase looking at the installation of catapult and arrestor gear;
	(4)  what the total cost to his Department was of preparatory work on installing catapult and arrestor gear on a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier;
	(5)  what the cost was of renegotiating contracts associated with the installation of catapult and arrestor gear on one Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier.

Peter Luff: holding answers 22 and 24 May 2012 (4) and (5)
	As part of our conversion investigations we had entered into a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement with the US for the supply of technical information, design and engineering data for Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment. We had also tasked the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), under the auspices of the existing carrier build contract, to develop a revised ship design, updated build strategy and consider options for conversion.
	Against this work, we have committed up to £39 million to the end of April 2012 with both the US Department of Defense (DoD) and UK Aircraft Carrier Alliance, and £1 million on an air-to-air refuelling study. There will be some additional costs as we close down this activity but I cannot release our estimate of these costs now as this would prejudice our negotiations.
	We did not order any equipment as part of these investigations into the conversion of the operational aircraft carrier. The decision to revert to purchase of the STOVL F-35B variant of Joint Strike Fighter was made before it was necessary to commit to long lead items for the catapults and arrestor gear.

Data Protection

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of the loss of confidential data held by his Department have been reported in each of the last (a) two years and (b) 12 months.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes any attacks on, or misuse of, its information, networks and associated media storage devices very seriously and has robust procedures in place to militate against and investigate such occurrences. Furthermore, new processes, instructions and technological aids are continually being implemented to mitigate human errors and raise the awareness of every individual in the MOD with regards to cyber security. The following tables list, by year, the number of reported losses of confidential and personal data centrally reported within the MOD from 1 January 2010 to 29 May 2012. Figures will continue to be adjusted to incorporate subsequent recoveries of items, the reporting of additional losses and subsequent clarification of historic incidents. The following figures reflect the latest data held by the Joint Security Co-ordination Centre (JSyCC) as of 29 May 2012.
	In a number of these cases, the documents were historical and therefore the original protective marking would have been eligible to be considered for downgrading. This may reduce any risk of such compromises. A number of these incidents came to light as a consequence of thorough mustering of protectively marked information and revised MOD data management practices.
	It is likely that a significant number of instances relate to records of the destruction of documents not being accurately maintained, rather than documents actually having gone missing.
	Table 1 details reported incidents of the loss of confidential data in each of the last two years (2010 and 2011). Also included are incident numbers from 1 January 2012 to 29 May 2012:
	
		
			 Table 1: Loss of confidential data by year 
			  Total 
			 2010 35 
			 2011 25 
			 2012 21 
		
	
	Table 2 details reported incidents of the loss of confidential data in each of the last 12 months:
	
		
			 Table 2: Loss of confidential data by month 
			 Month Total 
			 June 2011 2 
			 July 2011 0 
			 August 2011 5 
			 September 2011 2 
			 October 2011 2 
			 November 2011 3 
			 December 2011 0 
			 January 2012 13 
			 February 2012 3 
			 March 2012 0 
			 April 2012 3 
			 May 2012 2 
			 Notes: 1. These are only the incidents that were reported and may not represent the true number of losses during this time. 2. Of the 81 incidents listed in Table 1, 25 remain under investigation. These totals may also include some losses relating to accounting anomalies during force rotation and/or disposal activities.

Illegal Immigrants

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff his Department and its agencies have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2010.

Andrew Robathan: The immigration status of individuals is a matter for the UK Border Agency. I am aware of one incident involving a trainee suspected of being an illegal immigrant who has since been apprehended by the civil authorities.

Reserve Forces

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many service personnel from the Army Reserve are undergoing training;
	(2)  how many service personnel from the Army Reserve are available for immediate deployment.

Nick Harvey: The Army Reserve comprises members of the Territorial Army and the Regular Reserve.
	Members of the Territorial Army undergo training throughout their career depending on the Army's operational commitments. Once a member of the Territorial Army is mobilised for deployment they will receive the appropriate additional training for their deployed role.
	The Regular Reserve (personnel who have recently left the Army and held on the reserve list) receive training for specific roles as and when they are called upon.
	There are 85 members of the Territorial Army held at immediate readiness (defined as between 12 and 24 hours notice) for UK operations.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Atos

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total monetary value is of each contract between his Department and Atos.

Norman Lamb: Central records indicate that the Department has made no payments to Atos in the current financial year.

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  with reference to the announcement by the Financial Secretary on 23 December 2011 on legislation to tackle excessive card surcharges, when he expects to publish the consultation on implementing Article 19 of the Consumer Rights Directive;
	(2)  with reference to the announcement by the Financial Secretary on 23 December 2011 on legislation to tackle excessive card surcharges, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to ban excessive debit and credit card charges by 31 December 2012.

Norman Lamb: The EU Consumer Rights Directive will require member states to prohibit traders from charging consumers fees that exceed the costs borne by the trader for the use of a given means of payment. This will ban excessive payment surcharges in areas within scope of the Directive. The Government supported the inclusion of this provision in the Directive. The deadline for the Directive to take effect in national law is 13 June 2014.
	The Government shares consumers’ concerns about the high level of payment surcharges imposed by some businesses. On 23 December 2011 we announced our intention to consult on implementing the payment surcharges provision of the Consumer Rights Directive ahead of the June 2014 deadline. We intend to issue a full 12 week consultation in the summer to seek views on the timing of implementation and other details on how the provision should be applied. Responses to the consultation will inform our decision on timing and our guidance to businesses.

Business: West Midlands

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance his Department provided to small and medium-sized enterprises located in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands during the last 18 months.

Mark Prisk: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. That is why, in January, the Prime Minister launched “Business in You”, a major year-long campaign, to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses.
	We have introduced a range of measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK:
	Ensuring SMES can access the support and advice they need to start and grow
	We have transformed the way that we enable people to access the information, guidance and advice they need to start and grow a business. We have put in place a range of services including:
	An improved
	www.businesslink.gov.uk
	website including: a new Growth and Improvement Service and “My New Business”, a comprehensive start-up service.
	A Business Link Helpline which will support those who are unable to access the internet.
	A mentoring portal
	www.mentorsme.co.uk
	providing an easy route to find experienced business mentors.
	A new three year GrowthAccelerator programme, providing high quality coaching support for up to 26,000 SMEs with high growth potential.
	Ensuring businesses can access the finance they need
	Ensuring the flow of credit to viable SMEs is essential for supporting growth and is a core priority for this Government. Government has:
	Launched the National Loan Guarantee Scheme: up to £20 billion of guarantees for bank funding will be available over two years allowing banks to offer lower cost lending to SMEs.
	Increased the funds available to invest through the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) to £1.2 billion. Government has invited the first round of proposals to help businesses access non-bank finance through the BFP, and will allocate £100 million of the BFP to invest through non-traditional lending channels.
	Announced the continuation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme until 2014/15, providing, subject to demand, over £2 billion in total over the next four years.
	Announced continuation of the Government's Enterprise Capital Funds programme, increasing our commitment by £200 million over the next four years, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs.
	Launched a new Start-Up Loan Scheme aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds setting up a new business.
	Announced a new £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund to encourage Business Angel investment.
	Welcomed the report of the industry review of non-bank lending chaired by Tim Breedon and will take forward its recommendations over the course of this year, including: considering how to simplify access to Government support for smaller businesses; encouraging prompt payment by larger firms; and supporting industry work to remove barriers to alternative sources of finance.
	Announced a £2.4 billion fund Regional Growth Fund operating across England from 2011 to 2015. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment.
	Ensuring that regulation supports business growth
	Introduced a 'one-in, one-out' rule whereby no new regulations which impose costs on businesses can be brought in without regulation of an equivalent value being removed.
	Introduced a three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation affecting micro businesses and genuine start-ups.
	The Red Tape Challenge is tackling the stock of regulation via a comprehensive thematic review which aims to identify regulations that could be removed, simplified or done in a different way. By the end of December 2011 we had scrapped or simplified over 600 regulations.
	Reforming the way in which regulations are implemented, including a review of regulators to ensure enforcement arrangements are appropriate and proportionate. Government will also launch sector-based reviews of regulation to ensure it is enforced at the lowest possible cost to business.
	To reduce barriers to businesses taking on new staff Government has announced significant deregulation of employment law.
	Encouraging exporting SMEs
	Government will spend £35 million to double, from 25,000 to 50,000, the number of SMEs that UKTI supports a year by 2015. Many components of the UKTI product are aimed at SMEs:
	Passport to Export is a trade development programme offering new and inexperienced exporters help and support to build the capability to start exporting proactively and make their first visit to an export market. Launched in 2001, it has helped around 14,000 SMEs as of January 2012.
	Gateway to Global Growth offers experienced SME exporters the opportunity to increase their exporting skills and awareness of what is on offer from UKTI and private sector suppliers. The aim is to help them enter more difficult markets or expand in existing ones.
	Market Visit Support provides assistance to new to export and/or new to market SMEs visiting overseas markets, individually or in groups as part of their trade development process.
	Budget 2012 set out an ambition to more than double annual UK exports to £1 trillion by 2020 through additional measures including expanding the overseas role of UK Export Finance to enable it to develop finance packages that could help UK exporters secure opportunities identified through UK Trade & Investment's High Value Opportunities programme; helping secure temporary private sector office space overseas for new UK exporters in high growth countries where such services are difficult to obtain; and continuing to increase UK Export Finance's regional presence in the UK to support SMEs seeking trade finance.
	In addition to this national support, there is specific support for SMEs across Birmingham and the West Midlands, including:
	The Birmingham Post Business Growth Fund, funded by the Regional Growth Fund, has been set up to provide support for SMEs in Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry. Funding of £10-£100,000 is available to firms which offer significant potential for long-term economic growth and the creation of additional private sector jobs.
	The Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) supports investment in improved skills and training support, research and development and capital equipment. Stream 2 funding is available to automotive and aerospace suppliers in three Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas in the West Midlands (Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull) as well as Liverpool city region. Stream 2 funding is managed by Birmingham city council.
	The re-launched Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) provides a range of specialist assistance to manufacturing businesses across England, including linking SMEs with the Apprenticeship programme delivering a minimum of 1,250 engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships annually. As one of the UK's main manufacturing regions the West Midlands is expected to be a major beneficiary of the new MAS.
	The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) is focusing on how it can support the growth of SMEs. It has established a Business Hub where the local authority and a number of business organisations are co-located, effectively a one-stop shop for small businesses. The LEP is also a pathfinder on engaging mid-sized businesses and is preparing a programme of activity to support these businesses.
	The Marches (Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin) LEP has received Regional Growth Fund support for a 'redundant buildings programme', which aims to renovate disused buildings for SME and start-up space.
	Stoke and Staffordshire LEP has created a 'single point of contact' business helpline to channel business queries to the most appropriate organisation to deal with them, and promotes business to business mentoring through North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Conditions of Employment

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to make it easier for businesses to (a) recruit new employees and (b) dismiss employees who are not able to meet the requirements of the job.

Norman Lamb: holding answer 24 May 2012
	The information requested is as follows:
	(a) As part of the Employment Law Review, we have introduced a number of reforms to give confidence to employers to take on staff. These include launching an online tool advising employers on ‘Taking on an Employee’:
	http://www.improve.businesslink.gov.uk/resources/tools/taking-employee
	extending the qualifying period for Unfair Dismissal from one to two years, and steps to streamline the Employment Tribunals system.
	(b) We launched a Call for Evidence in March on dismissal processes including the option for Compensated No Fault Dismissal for micro-businesses and a review of the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievance. This closed on 8 June.
	The Government is currently taking forward the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to implement further reforms to employment-related laws. A recent summary can be found at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/e/12-p136-employment-law-review-2012.pdf

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons his Department limited its consultation on compensated no-fault dismissal to employees at micro businesses; on what date the decision was taken; and by which Department.

Norman Lamb: The reasons for calling for evidence on the concept of no fault dismissal only in relation to micro businesses are set out in the call for evidence document published on 15 March 2012. The document states that:
	"The Government recognises that micro businesses are likely to find it more difficult to access expert human resource and legal advice. The effect of this is that they are likely to feel less confident in applying detailed disciplinary procedures and have a greater fear of employment tribunal claims."
	The Government's decision to publish a call for evidence relating to micro businesses was taken in preparation for, and announced through, the outcome of the Employment-related law Red Tape Challenge and the autumn statement 2011.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials worked (a) in any capacity on and (b) in drafting the Beecroft Report; and which directorate they were from.

Norman Lamb: Three BIS officials from Labour Market Directorate provided de minimis support as a secretariat. This involved setting up meetings with policy officials across Government and responding to factual questions from Mr Beecroft.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has any plans in respect of proposals listed in sections which were included in the draft of the Beecroft Report but were removed in the final version.

Norman Lamb: The Department has already set out which of the recommendations in Mr Beecroft's report Government is considering or taking further and which we are not.
	Further details can be found at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/a/12-830-adrian-beecroft-report-issues-government-is-considering.pdf

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the final draft of the Beecroft Report was composed; whether any amendments were made to the document after November 2011; and if he will specify what amendments were made on which date.

Norman Lamb: The timing of the drafting of Mr Beecroft's final report is a matter for him. The final report submitted by Mr Beecroft has been published and is available at
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/r/12-825-report-on-employment-law-beecroft.pdf

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what investigations he has carried out into the release of the Beecroft report.

Norman Lamb: None.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which stakeholders were consulted by Adrian Beecroft and officials in his Department in drawing up the Beecroft report.

Norman Lamb: This is a question for Adrian Beecroft and not for Government. The report was produced independently by Mr Beecroft whom we expect to have spoken to a range of interested parties in preparing the report. The analysis and recommendations in the report are his own and do not represent the views of Government.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who commissioned the Beecroft report; and on what date the report was commissioned.

Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), in his role as the then Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs, wrote to Mr Beecroft on 29 July 2011 to commission the report, on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the process was by which Adrian Beecroft was selected to carry out a review of employment law; and what criteria were used to determine his appointment.

Norman Lamb: Mr Beecroft was asked to provide his thoughts to Government on a private basis, alongside a range of contributions from other interested parties to the Red Tape Challenge and Employment Law Review.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of all correspondence between officials at Number 10 Downing street and his Department relating to the Beecroft report.

Norman Lamb: As disclosure of such material would prejudice the exchange of views on policy issues, we have no intention to publish correspondence between officials on this subject.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether Adrian Beecroft approved alterations made to the final published version of his report on employment law labelled 24 October 2011.

Norman Lamb: Mr Beecroft was responsible for submitting the final version of his report.

Conditions of Employment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much Adrian Beecroft was paid for his work on the employment law review.

Norman Lamb: Mr Beecroft received no payment or expenses for his work.

Electronic Cigarettes: Trading Standards

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has issued guidance to local trading standards officers on the sale and use of electronic cigarettes.

Mark Prisk: I have not issued guidance to local trading standards officers on the sale of electronic cigarettes.

Financial Services: Disadvantaged

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support vulnerable people to obtain credit.

Norman Lamb: The Government are committed both to curbing unsustainable lending and to strengthening consumer protections, particularly for the most vulnerable in society. Our vision is to empower consumers to make better choices for themselves so that they are free to borrow if that is what they decide is in their best interest, as well as to have in place a safe and fair regulatory framework for credit. That is why Government interventions are focused at promoting responsible borrowing and responsible lending.
	For example, on payday lending, we have been working with the four main trade associations to strengthen industry codes of practice to deliver real enhanced consumer protections and to provide greater transparency about how these loans work.
	The Government have also commissioned research to gather robust evidence on the impact of introducing a cap on the total cost of credit that can be charged across a range of high cost credit products in the market. A report on this is expected this summer and will be important to informing future policy decisions.
	Also key here is the Government's work to expand the credit union coverage to provide better access to alternative forms of borrowing for those who cannot obtain mainstream credit. As announced by my noble friend Lord Freud, Department for Work and Pensions have recently issued a significant report on the way forward for credit unions and detail of the next steps on this report will be made available in the near future.

Higher Education

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department plans to publish its response to the Higher Education White Paper consultation.

David Willetts: The Government response to the consultation for the Higher Education White Paper, ‘Students at the Heart of the System’, and associated Technical Consultation, ‘A new fit-for-purpose Regulatory Framework for the Higher Education Sector’, was published on 11 June. A copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House and an electronic version is available on the Department's website at:
	www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education

Higher Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the subjects that have been most affected by course closures at higher education institutions in England in the last two years;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to minimise course closures at higher education institutions in England.

David Willetts: We do not collect information on course closures. Universities are autonomous bodies and make their own decisions about the courses they will provide to meet the changing needs of their students.
	We have asked Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in the 2012 Grant Letter to continue to prioritise strategically important and vulnerable subjects (SIVS) when allocating teaching grant. HEFCE is currently undertaking work to monitor early signals of student demand and Higher Education Institution (HEI) provision of SIVS. HEFCE has in the past asked institutions to inform them if they plan to close courses in those subjects designated as SIVS.

Mature Students

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many mature students he expects to enter higher education from September 2012.

David Willetts: The Department does not forecast the number of mature students who will enter university. The number of mature entrants this September will depend on a range of factors, such as the grades achieved in this summer's exams. Entry to higher education has always been a competitive process and universities, as independent and autonomous bodies, are responsible for their own admissions decisions. For decades, there have been more applications than places and this is likely to be repeated this year.

Newspaper Press: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has held with (a) Welsh Ministers and (b) other groups, organisations or individuals on the business model for the printed news media in Wales.

Norman Lamb: No Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have held recent discussions with Welsh Ministers to discuss the business model for the printed news media in Wales. I refer the hon. Member to the reply to his question by the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), on 17 May 2012, Official Report, column 265W.

Departmental Administration Costs

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on the administration of his Department in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

Norman Lamb: The expenditure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 is contained in the published Annual report and accounts (following link):
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/performance-reports/annual-reports
	HM Treasury published the February 2012 forecast outturn for all Government Departments in its 2012 Budget publication. For BIS this was a forecast spend of £16.3 billion, of which £40 million of funding for apprenticeships has since been transferred to 2012-13 as part of the Budget Exchange scheme.
	The Department's 2011-12 year-end position is not yet finalised. The final position will be reflected in BIS's annual report and accounts due to be published in July 2012.

Overseas Students: Entry Clearances

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many places on higher education courses in (a) England and (b) Birmingham have been awarded to Tier 4 (General) student visa holders; and how many such students did not attend their courses.

David Willetts: Statistics on the number of Tier 4 student visa holders who do not subsequently take up their places on higher education courses are not available, though this is monitored via the inspection of individual sponsors by the UK Border Agency (UKBA).
	Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that there were 243,105 students domiciled in countries outside of the UK, European economic area (EEA) and Switzerland prior to their course enrolled at English higher education institutions in the academic year 2010/11, including 11,245 enrolments at institutions located in the local authority of Birmingham. Figures for 2011/12 will be published in January 2013. HESA does not routinely collect information on the visas held by overseas students.

Post Offices

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of operational post office counters in the UK in (a) 20000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010 and (d) 2012.

Norman Lamb: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 302W.

Post Offices: Internet

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will encourage Royal Mail to evaluate the potential for Post Office branches to act as pick-up points for customers' purchases from on-line businesses, as an alternative to home delivery.

Norman Lamb: Royal Mail and the Post Office already work together, providing a service called ‘Local Collect’, which allows home shopping companies and consumers to use local branches as collection points for delivery or re-delivery when customers are not at home.
	They will continue to work together on enhancing Local Collect and on other improvements to home delivery, for example by trialling delivery to a neighbour where this can offer a more convenient solution.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many publications have been issued by his Department since May 2010.

Norman Lamb: Since May 2010 the Department has issued 1,467 publications:
	54 are available in hard copy
	1,157 are electronic web publications
	256 have gone out of print or new editions have been published
	A list of the titles has been placed in the Library of the House.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) circulars and (b) consultation documents were issued by his Department in each of the last two years.

Norman Lamb: All the consultation documents issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are publically available at:
	www.bis.gov.uk/consultations
	It is disproportionate in terms of resource and cost to determine how many circulars were issued in the last two years.

Shipping: Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the written answer of 30 April 2012, Official Report, column 1283W, on shipping, when he expects to publish his response to the conclusions of the legal working group on application of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to seafarers working on non-UK registered vessels travelling between UK ports; and if he will take steps to ensure that the response is sent to all members of the legal working group. [R]

Norman Lamb: As the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), indicated in his response of 30 April 2012, I intend to make a statement on this subject in the near future. I can confirm that members of the legal working group on seafarers and the national minimum wage, which was set up to consider this area, will be made aware of this statement.

Students: Childbirth Courses

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of reforms to student funding on the National Childbirth Trust's ability to deliver the Government's Preparing for Birth and Beyond programme.

David Willetts: The financial arrangements for higher education are changing from 2012/13 with less funding provided through block grants from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and more provided through student tuition fees, supported by a more generous system of publicly-funded student support to eligible students. These arrangements apply equally to the courses that the National Childbirth Trust offers to students in partnership with the University of Worcester.

Trade Union Officials

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to review powers of trade union leaders in the public sector.

Norman Lamb: The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sets the legislative framework for trade unions and their activities. It makes no special provision for trade union leaders in the public sector and I have no current plans to review the legislation.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business: Ethnic Groups

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress his Department has made, in conjunction with the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group, in assessing and tackling the barriers people from black and minority ethnic communities face in accessing business finance; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: We are conducting a review into the barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance and have consulted with a wide range of external partners, including the British Bankers Association and various ethnic minority business organisations, and will report on the review shortly.

Employment Tribunals Service

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employment tribunals relating to his Department have been held since May 2010; and what the cost to his Department was of such tribunals.

Bob Neill: One employment tribunal relating to the Department for Communities and Local Government has been held during the period from 1 May 2010 until 29 May 2012. To place this in context, from 2008 to 2009, there was also one tribunal case.
	The Department does not record details of the cost of individual employment tribunals and calculation for the case referred to above could only be made at a disproportionate cost.

Fire Service College

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy not to offer (a) grants, (b) non-revenue subsidy and (c) revenue subsidy to any successful bidder for the Fire Service College.

Bob Neill: I can confirm that no grants, non-revenue subsidy or revenue subsidy will be offered to any successful bidder for the Fire Service College.

Fire Service College

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many expressions of interest in the sale of the Fire Service College he has received to date; and how many such expressions of interest have subsequently been withdrawn.

Bob Neill: We received 12 initial expressions of interest in the sale of the Fire Service College. It would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the bid process while it is still under way.

Health Insurance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff working in his Department are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.

Bob Neill: No staff working in the Department for Communities and Local Government are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.

Mutual Societies: Staff

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff who will transfer from his Department, its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies workforce to a mutual in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: No staff transferred from the Department, its non-departmental public bodies or executive agencies in to a mutual organisation in 2011-12, and we do not expect any staff to transfer to such an organisation in 2012-13.
	The Government has committed that every Department will put in place Rights to Provide for public sector workers to take over the running of services and DCLG is working towards this.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) circulars and (b) consultation documents were issued by his Department in each of the last two years.

Bob Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government distributes information in the form of circulars, official letters, statistical releases/reports and bulletins to various groups including Local Government, Planning Authorities and Fire and Rescue Authorities. The majority of these are available to view on the Department's website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/publications/all/
	The Department for Communities and Local Government published on its website 44 consultation documents in 2011 and 32 consultation documents in 2010.
	To place these figures in context, 66 consultation documents were published in 2009.

Secondment

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in his Department are on secondment from an external organisation; and if he will publish the (a) organisation, (b) time spent on secondment and (c) other relevant details in respect of each such member of staff.

Bob Neill: There are currently 25 staff on secondment to the main Department for Communities and Local Government. The following table provides details of their organisation and length of secondment and related details including the grade of their post and the Directorate within DCLG to where they are assigned.
	
		
			 Parent Organisation Start of Secondment End of Secondment Directorate in DCLG Grade 
			 Grant Thornton LLP 18 November 2006 31 May 2012 Finance Grade 6 
			 London Fire Brigade 10 November 2008 30 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 6 
			 Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service 3 August 2009 30 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 6 
			 Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service 27 October 2008 31 October 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 6 
			 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 16 May 2011 15 November 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service 1 November 2007 31 December 2012 Firelink Grade 7 
			 Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service 4 January 2011 3 January 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service 4 January 2011 3 January 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service 4 January 2011 3 January 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service 19 November 2011 18 September 2013 Crown Premises Inspection Group (Fire) Grade 7 
			 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service 1 November 2011 31 October 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 1 November 2011 31 October 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Humberside Fire and Rescue Service 1 November 2011 31 October 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 London Fire Brigade 7 November 2011 6 November 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service 1 December 2011 30 November 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser SEO 
			 Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service 19 December 2011 18 December 2013 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 6 
			 Princes Trust 25 January 2012 25 January 2013 Troubled Families Unit Grade 7 
			 Essex Fire and Rescue Service 2 April 2012 21 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service 16 April 2012 21 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service 10 April 2012 28 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service 16 April 2012 17 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service 11 June 2012 9 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Surrey Fire and Rescue Service 1 July 2012 30 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service 1 June 2012 30 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7 
			 Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service 1 June 2012 30 September 2012 Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Grade 7

Social Rented Housing

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much is spent annually by social housing landlords on repairs; and how much of that total is on statutory or other repairs that cannot be devolved to tenants.

Grant Shapps: The information requested is as follows.
	Local Authorities
	During 2010-11 local authority landlords spent a total of £3.3 billion on maintenance and repairs, according to Housing Revenue Account subsidy data returns. This amounts to approximately £1,900 per dwelling on average.
	Housing Associations
	Over the same period, housing associations spent a total of £3.6 billion on maintenance and repairs—almost £1,600 per dwelling on average.
	These figures cover all types of repairs and maintenance, not all of which would be suitable for inclusion in Tenant Cashback schemes. We expect landlords to discuss and agree with tenants how local schemes should work, taking account of local circumstances and the wishes and capabilities of tenants.

Social Rented Housing: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will allocate additional funding for social housing regeneration in Morecambe.

Grant Shapps: Now that self financing of council housing has come into effect, Lancaster, as with all authorities who have council housing stock, can keep its rents and take complete control of how it manages and maintains its social housing in consultation with its tenants.
	The Coastal Communities Fund is also a potential source of funds for innovative regeneration projects that promote economic growth and jobs in social housing and other areas within Morecambe.
	The Department published “Regeneration to enable growth: A toolkit supporting community-led regeneration” in January 2012, which outlined the tools, powers and flexibilities available to local areas to drive community-led regeneration.
	Lancaster city council will receive £1.9 million to tackle clusters of empty homes in their area, bringing 114 empty homes back into use and the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Homes Programme has agreed funding in the Mid Lancashire area of £19.5 million to deliver over 900 affordable homes for rent and affordable ownership properties for the period 2011-15. Morecambe, as part of the Lancaster city council area, is part of the Mid Lancashire area along with Chorley, Preston, South Ribble and West Lancashire.